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Riga Aviation Museum

The Riga Aviation Museum developed over the past 40 years. It became a private museum in 1997 without any support from the Latvian state. This  aviation museum is unique in the Baltic countries and one of the largest in  Europe. Its collection of Soviet aircraft is also the greatest in in outside of  Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). 
The history of the museum began in 1956, when Mr. Tsander  established the Young Pilots’ Club (YPC). The organizational work was done by a young aviation engineer, Victor Talpa, who worked for the Latvian Civil Aviation  administration.
The Young Pilots’ Club was meant to provide Professional  training and thus was sponsored by the Latvian Civil Aviation administration.  Starting at age 14, students studied aviation theory and the airport’s service  working procedures, worked in the airport, and underwent physical and  rudimentary military training including parachuting. The young pilots were  trained on the An-2, Tu-134, and Tu-154. The graduates received a certification  and according to the decree of the Ministry of Aviation of the USSR no.550 of  5.09.1969 and obtained the qualification of “2nd grade technician of the An-2”.
But YPC needed its own teaching aids, including airplanes; heretofore it  had depended for everything on the Civil Aviation administration. The Defence  Ministry granted the Club a used Mig-21US that was rebuilt by the students. This  is how the club’s collection of equipment began. Later, thanks to good contacts  within the military, the quantity of aircraft has considerably grown. It  includes some rare models of military airplanes and helicopters. Two more YPC  schools were started in the Latvian cities of Liepaja and Ventspils.
By  1991 the club had a solid foundation of educational material and technical  equipment. Training and certification of junior airmen continued. When applying  to the institutes of higher education or technical colleges, the YPC graduates  had an advantage over other applicants; this was partly due to the selectivity  of the YPC in accepting 14-year-old students and partly to the excellent  preparation they received from the club. After the break-up of the  Soviet Union, financing ceased. There was also a problem of equipment storage.  The Riga Airport administration decided to help and provided space. From 1998 to  1999 the club’s equipment was moved to its new spaces. 
 The founder and permanent director of the museum is Victor Talpa. He graduated from Irkutsk Military Aviation College in 1962 and served in the naval  aviation of the Black Sea Navy. Later he worked as an aircraft engineer with  Aeroflot and at the same time was the head of the Young Pilots’ Club. He is a lovely man and it was a pleasure to meet him (and his cat).
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